Air Force Pilot From Iowa Helped Safely Land A Plane With 157 Passengers After The Pilot Had A Heart Attack
Des Moines Register- Mark Gongol knew something was wrong.
The West Des Moines native and U.S. Air Force captain had flown from Des Moines to Denver many times.
But on Dec. 30, the engines on his United Airlines flight slowed to near idle over Grand Island, Neb. The plane banked and began to turn.
“We were only about 30 minutes into the flight and I knew we weren’t to the Denver airport yet,” Gongol recalled.
Then the intercom beeped.
The flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on aboard the Dec. 30 flight from Des Moines to Denver.
Eventually two nurses made their way toward the front of the plane.
The intercom beeped again. This time the flight attendant asked if there was a pilot on board.
You can read the whole story here. You should.
Holy shit what a story. Just another example of a service member stepping up when it’s needed most. Bailing all of us out when we the rest of us would be sitting in our seats shitting our pants and praying for a miracle. Well the people on that plane got a miracle and it came in the form of badass Air Force pilot Mark Gongol. He calmly went into the cockpit of a Boeing 737 (a type of plane he’d never flown before FYI) and landed the plane like a fucking boss. Likely saving the lives of all 157 passengers and airline employees on board. So awesome. Talk about staying calm and keeping your wits in a situation that any normal person would curl up into a ball and start crying for their mothers (myself included). The best part about this story? This all happened back in December but the story is just coming out now. Why? Because Gongol didn’t mention it to anybody until he was talking to a PR person at his base. What a guy. Saves the lives of over a hundred and fifty people and then doesn’t want any attention or fan fare for it. Unreal. Thank god for people like Mark. A true hero.